Let there be light

As with standard photography, more light generally gives you a better, more colourful, and sharper image. If you’re on a night out with friends, however, that might be tough. But, the smartphone manufacturers have been giving this problem some consideration.

It’s been a fairly slow introduction, but more smartphones are coming with front-facing flashes nowadays. And if they don’t have a dedicated LED next to the lens, there’s often the option to make your whole screen flash white as the camera takes the photo.

If all else fails, and you’re really struggling for that much-needed light, you can employ the use of your mate’s smartphone torch. Shine it over the top of your phone, and you should see a big difference in the quality of your selfie.

Edit before posting

Of course, editing isn’t always required, but if you want to tidy up the odd blemish, or turn up the saturation on that summer snap, there are some decent apps available other than Instagram. One of our favourites is called Snapseed (available for iOS and Android) created by Google.

This app gives you loads of editing options, and it’s got filters to add over the top of your photo. Thankfully, it’s not too complicated – it isn’t a mobile Photoshop, but it does give you a few more options than your standard Instagram tools.

The selfie stick revolution

One thing that ruins countless selfies is having to stretch your arm out further than it’s meant to go, all in an effort to get everyone in the frame.

So, unless you’ve got one exceptionally long-armed friend, it could be worth investing in a selfie stick. They’re easy to use – you just clip your phone to one end, extend it, and press the button on the handle. This sends a Bluetooth signal to your phone to make the shutter work.

Pro tip – position the handle low and your smartphone high. This will be a more flattering angle for everyone, and you won’t see the pole of the selfie stick in your photo.

If all else fails, buy a drone

If you’re looking for something a bit different, maybe you need the Nixie drone. This miniature robot straps around your wrist, and when the selfie feels just right, you can set it to fly off – it’ll then snap a photo, and fly right back to you.

Sounds nuts, right? Check it out for yourself in this video from CES 2015.

Have you got anything to add? Drop us a comment below and wstart the conversation.